Shifting Language Practical Content Strategies for the Web

1. Shifting LanguagePractical Content Strategies for the Web Brendan Dellandrea CASE Online Strategies November 2 2007

2. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

3. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

4. (1)Web readers are scan readers

5. This means: • Web is not print • Different expectations apply

6. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair some time declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 (1603 – 1609) Why you’re better than a summer day: You’re better looking You’re nicer to me You’ll stay with me longer You’ll always be beautiful You’ll live forever through my poetry Click Here for More Scan-friendly writing

7. Writing for Scan Readers • Short sentences • Break up large paragraphs • Use headlines, sub-heads • Use bullet points • Link to more information where necessary

8. Athletic Centre Continue to enjoy the outstanding facilities of U of T's Athletic Centre. With squash courts, a 200m indoor track, two swimming pools, exercise equipment, fitness classes and more, the AC is a great place to exercise, learn and play. Also available is a Strength and Conditioning Centre with Nautilus, Hammer Strength, free weights, barbells and dumbbells. The David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic (416-978-4678) has sport physicians, chiropractors, athletic and massage therapists, physiotherapists and an orthopedic surgeon available for consultation and the treatment of sport related injuries. For alumni who have graduated within the past 24 months and who wish to acquire a membership, the fees are $325 for a full-year membership or you may pay in 12 monthly installments by credit card at $30 per month.  For all other alumni, the membership costs are $480 per year or $43 per month by credit card.  All memberships of less than 12 months are $69 per month. Visit www.utoronto.ca/physical or call 416-978-3436 (press"0") for more information.  www.alumni.utoronto.ca/privileges/clubs.asp Stay fit with U of T Enjoy cutting-edge facilities at the U of T Athletic Centre, including: 200m indoor track 2 swimming pools Exercise equipment (Nautilus, Hammer Strength, free weights, barbells, dumbells) Fitness classes Learn more… Get the best in sports medicine treatment from the David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic: Sport physicians Chiropractors Massage Therapists Physiotherapists Orthopedic surgeon Learn more… Get the membership that’s right for you $325 per year for recent grads (2 yrs from graduation) $480 per year for all other alumni $69 for a single month membership Sign up now A real-world example

9. Pages need to be readable • Form after function • High contrast text • Avoid the PDF monster • Avoid splash pages • Avoid massive header graphics • Never embed important text in a graphic

11. Be Direct • Use ordinary words • “acquire a membership” -> “sign up” • “centennial” -> “100th anniversary” • “your alma mater” -> “your university” • Don’t bury the lead

13. (2)Content should betargeted, dynamic, relevant. Engage your readers.

14. Know your audience • What information are they looking for? • Need to know vs. Nice to know • Forget who you work for

15. Address your audience • Assume nothing, not even an education • Write from the viewpoint of your audience • Avoid jargon • Connect with your readers’ expectations

16. Leverage your data • Education, degree types • Grad year • Giving history • Designations • Levels • Clubs, athletics  Research, constituency news  Reunions  Campaign news • Achievements, asks • Benefits  Events, scores

17. Enable self-service • “Manage my subscriptions” • “Manage my interests” • “My feeds” • “My account” • “My groups”

18. Call to action • Content should always entice or direct the user to do something • Avoid stale “about us” pages • Every page should have at least one call to action • Draw the reader in, setup a desirable outcome

20. (3) Organize your material Not once. Always.

21. Frequently Asked Questions • Make an FAQ, and make it loud • Poll the sources: • Telemarketing & call centres • Help desk • Front-line staff • E-mail inquiries • Forums, yahoo answers, etc.

22. Create intelligent links • Links as neural networks: • Those that fire together, wire together • Self-organization (Tag clouds) • In other words: • What is the dominant site traffic/behaviour? • Review raw page hits: top 10? • Review internal referrals on a per-page basis • Re-wire accordingly • Increase linkage for popular actions • Demote linkage for unpopular pages • Combine related actions

23. Make a list… Check it every month. • Review the top 10 pages each month • What gets the most traffic? • Raw stats • Internal referrals • Viral marketing • How easy is it to navigate to these pages from your index? • What pages need constant updating?

24. (4) Hire a specialist This is a big job…

25. You’ll need: • Vision • Dedication • Insight • Understanding • Inter-disciplinary expertise • Advocacy

26. Sample:Manager, Interactive Communications …responsible for overseeing the development and strategic direction of the University’s central alumni & friends website content, e-mail marketing content, and online engagement initiatives. The incumbent is required to be very hands-on, providing leadership in areas of effective web-based content. …develop compelling web-based content for the central alumni and friends website, and to edit existing & proposed content for clarity, coherence, relevance, and usability …. maximize the effectiveness of the Division’s interactive communications by ensuring that they address and satisfy user expectations, thus positioning the Division to better achieve its alumni communication and outreach objectives. … ensure that Divisional website content is organized according to best practises and research findings. …act as a strategic resource… will be responsible for researching and planning new website strategies which attract and engage a greater portion of the University’s alumni, donors and friends. This is a communications, editing and copy-writing position, rather than a webmaster or system Administrator position. Computer programming experience is not required.

27. (5)Integrate with existing content resources

28. The content already exists: • Magazines • Newsletters • Research news • Upcoming events • Sports results • Use RSS to bring it in!

29. Use the web to shape print publications • Viral marketing • “Send this page to a friend” • Page views • Visit duration • Localization of viewership • IP address geography

30. Resources • Traffic monitoring: • Clicky: www.getclicky.com • Google analytics: www.google.com/analytics • Web Editing: • www.webstyleguide.com • Examples & strategic direction • www.supportingadvancement.com • www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com • CASE

31. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

32. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

33. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

34. Wikipedia • The potential: • Globally-oriented resource • Readership among desired demographic • High search engine ranking

35. Wikipedia • The need: • Ensure factual accuracy • Remove inappropriate content • Reinforce your brand

36. Wikipedia • The approach: • Monitor • Contribute

37. Monitoring Wikipedia • Appoint staff to “watchlist” articles • A checkup takes approx 5 seconds • Could be done daily • Review the article history

38. Contributing to Wikipedia • Things to add: • Campaign history • Campaign announcements • Endowment statistics • Scholarship statistics • Enrolment statistics • Rankings • Awards • Institutional history • Campus photos • Research news

39. Learn the Rules of Wikipedia • Neutral Point of View • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NPOV • Notability Criteria • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTE • Reliable Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:RS • Verifiability • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:V

40. WP:NPOV • Wikipedia articles aspire to a NPOV • Adjectives & adverbs are automatically suspect: stunning unfortunate spectacular unlucky amazing undeniable glorious terrible passionately fantastic lousy unfortunate unlucky • Issues must be represented from all sides • If you can’t eliminate bias, balance it!

41. WP:NOTE • Wikipedia articles should by worthy of notice: • “this guideline properly considers the long-term written coverage of persons and events” • Passing controversies usually are NN by this standard

42. WP:RS • Sources should be trustworthy and authoritative • Campus newspapers are iffy • Self-published sources are out • E.g. Myspace, student blogs, forums, bulletin boards, etc. • “Propagandized” official publications may be suspect too

43. WP:V • Information must be verifiable • “The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth.” • Rumours, speculation, gossip should be removed • Leverage press releases to provide content

44. A Practical Guide to Wikipedia • Take responsibility • Create a user account, identify yourself • If you don’t, someone else will • http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ • Get critical: re-write & remove • Revert vandalism & inappropriate additions • Use the Talk Page to build consensus on difficult issues!

45. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

46. Overview • Introduction • 5 Core strategies for effective web pages • Leveraging social media • Wikipedia • Facebook • Alumni Communities • Case Study: University of Toronto

47. Facebook • Is it the be-all and end-all? • No. • Can you afford to ignore it? • No.

48. Position your institution • Create “groups” for your institution, alumni associations, etc. • Inforce your brand • Same content principles apply • Link to more information

49. Promote your group • Magazines, newsletters, e-mail • Drive everyone to one place

50. Remedial work: • Eager alumni may have already created a group for your institution • Uncontrolled message • Wrongful appearance of authenticity • Brand mismanagement • This situation requires tact: • These alumni could be a vital resource!